Don't Tell Darry
by InsoluableInsanity
Summary: Cottoncandy Curtis is my name, Dallas Winston's my buddy, I love my little brother Ponyboy and his friend Johnny too. While discovering boys, nearly losing her life, and leaning to stay gold she stays the rock, for everyone. But is it too late for her?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own _The Outsiders_ or any of the characters, sadly.**

**I'm kinda obsessed with **_**The Outsiders**_**, and I'm not the best writer ever. I don't really plan out any of my stories, I just write them.**

_Dear Diary,_

_ I'm going to the Nightly Double tomorrow with Dally. He said he is gonna invite the rest of the gang too. I wish I wasn't so afraid to tell him how I feel about him... But he's my best friend, and I don't want to lose that. Plus Darry would have a cow if he knew I liked Dally. I would rather have him as my best friend then to date him, have a bad break up, and never talk to him again._

_ I need to get ready to go to Buck's for Dally's return party,_

Cottoncandy Marie Curtis

I closed the small book with a snap while letting a yawn escape my lips. I made my way down the hallway to the bathroom in a tank top and underwear knowing that my brothers weren't here. I glanced in the mirror and sighed at the reflection. I ran a brush through my long dark red hair an put on a light amount of green eyeshadow that made my lilac colored eyes pop. I know, lilac eyes? I have never met anyone else with eyes as weird as mine... Except maybe Two-Bit, whose eyes are a strange gray color.

I heard footsteps on the porch and the front door slammed. "Hurry the hell up Candy, I don't want to miss my own party!" I rolled my eyes and walked back down the hall to my bedroom, not bothering to shut the door because if Dallas wanted in my room, then he was coming in my room whether or not I liked it. I pulled a blue sundress on that went down to my knees and Dally's old black leather coat.

I walked into the living room and rolled my eyes when I saw his eyes glued to the TV, more specifically Mickey Mouse. I coughed to get his attention. His eyes snapped over to me and a real smile crossed his face before a smirk replaced it.

He stood up and I ran and hugged him. He awkwardly wrapped his arms around me, not use to hugs. I let go before he got too uncomfortable. " Missed ya Dally," I said smiling up at him.

He ruffled my hair and said, "Missed ya too Candybear."

I huffed and straightened it out before giving him a lopsided grin and tugging him by his hand out the door as Steve, Sodapop, Two-Bit and Johnny came down the road toward the house. I waved at them before yanking him in the general direction of Buck's, and then the smile was wiped off my face when I heard something that pierced my heart, Ponyboy's screams echoed through my ears.

I ran as fast as I could and I saw a bunch of boys on top of him. I jumped, pulling out my switchblade and sliced at one. They all got off of him and eyed the blade warily. I lunged toward them as the rest of the gang came up beside me.

My vision was blurred with rage I jumped on the nearest one and started pounding his face in. After a couple minutes he passed out and I got up and ran to Pony's side as the rest of the Socs dragged their friend away bloodied and bruised.

I brushed his hair out of his face and then reached out a hand to help him up. He gave me a grateful smile before Darry and Steve started giving him a rough time. I stood between Darry and Pony and calmly said, " Stop it Darry, I think he has been through enough today without you being an ass."

"When I need my kid sister to tell me what to do with my kid brother I'll ask you- Kid sister." I scowled at him before hunching over so Pony could get on my back, knowing he wouldn't be comfortable being on Darry's. Once he got on I set off for home with the rest of the gang trailing behind. Everyone knew how protective of Pony I was, but I had a good reason.

When my parents had gotten in that car wreck my dad had died instantly, but not my mom. She asked me to take care of Pony because she knew he was really emotional, I intend to keep my promise to her. I opened our rusty old gate and when I got inside I set Pony on the couch before getting the first aid kit from the bathroom.

When I got back to the living room Two-Bit was watching TV, Darry was reading the news paper, Steve and Soda were playing poker, Johnny and Pony were talking quietly to each other, and I could see the top of Dallas' hair outside of the window. I got to my knees next to Ponyboy and started dabbing lightly at the cut on his neck with peroxide. I made sure that the blood had dried over it and didn't put a band aide on it because I knew that he would like it cause it looked tough.

"Y'all good now, Pony?" I asked quietly. He just nodded so I put the first aide kit away before cleaning myself up a bit. I looked at a small cut above my left eye in shock. I hadn't even known I was getting hit back... Damn.

I changed into an pinkish-orange dress and made my way back out the front door, " Looks like we were going to be late to your party anyways, Dal." I said before sitting next to him on the front step. He smirked slightly and nodded before grabbing my chin and turning it to get a look at the cut above my eye.

"That's tuff," he said letting go of my cheek and turning his head back toward the sky.

I looked too and soon the sun was halfway set. I felt something lightly touch my hand before grasping it tightly... My face heated up and I glanced down at mine and Dallas' hands before I intertwined out fingers smiling like an idiot. If this was a dream it was definitely one I didn't want to wake up from. I didn't speak for fear that I would wake myself.

The sun finally disappeared behind the mountains and Dallas stood up, pulling me up with him, before we made our way toward Buck's, hand in hand. Little did we know that there was a set of eyes glaring at us from the window of my house...

HAH! My first chapter! What do ya think? Who is watching them from the window? I honestly don't know, I need your help. In a review or on my poll choose for me. Should it be Steve, Two-Bit, Darry, or Johnny. I'm not putting Pony down because he was laying on the couch...


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys :) I want to thank everyone who added my story to their subscription! :) It makes me so happy! **

**I also want to thank greaserforlife and () for reviewing. I appreciate it a whole lot!**

**I know that she kind of seems like a Mary-Sue but she isn't, there's a reason that she has lilac eyes. Also I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that she DID NOT fight them off on her own, she only fought one of them, and cut one, she just kept them away from Johnny until the rest of the gang got there. I know that Dallas was with her before Pony's scream, but got there before them, and I'll address why she got there before Dally in either this chapter or the next. **

**Chapter Two**

I glanced around the smokey bar room, grimacing at the slutty girls hanging off of guys before I shoved my way through the crowd to the bar. I grinned at Buck, who had always been very kind toward me, before sitting on a stool," Just a beer Buck." He nodded and grabbed a glass as I turned around in my stool to glance around the room. I took the beer with a nod of thanks toward Buck and turned around, peering at the people who had turned up. Dallas had disappeared a while ago, muttering about finding Tim Shepard. I continued looking around the room, sipping slightly at my beer.

Hey there Darlin'." Greeted a voice from beside me. I looked at the guy, he was attractive enough I guessed, he had dark brown hair, and green eyes, he was wearing a green plaid shirt that went well with his eyes. He was wearing Wrangler jeans, cowboy boots, and a cowboy hat to top off his look. He kind of looked like a bad-ass cowboy to me. I didn't respond, I wasn't sure if me and Dally were dating but I wasn't going to blow it if he thought we were.

I let my eyes roam over the room, downing the rest of my beer. The guy was still sitting next to me, looking content to sit there all night, I was in a way flattered that he was wasting his time with me when there was definitely plenty of other girls who were more willing to talk to him, judging by some glares I was getting. I haven't seen Dallas since we got here and that was at least an hour ago, and then I saw him. He was sitting in a booth across the bar, there was a blonde, curly-haired girl sitting in his lap and a couple of guys from Shepard's Outfit were sitting in the booth with them. The girl was trying to make out with him, but every couple seconds he would pull away to say something to one of the guys sitting there.

My chest hurt, here I was ignoring an extremely attractive man who was showing me a lot of attention when he was sitting over there making out with some tramp. I guess my pain and anger showed on my face because the guy next to me said, "What's the matter Doll Face?"

I turned my head toward him and said, " What's your name anyways?"

He grinned, obviously glad to have gotten a response from me, and said " Michael Jameson, what about you Missy?"

I gave him a half smile, not being able to fake a full one with the pain that was stabbing at my chest. "My name is Cottoncandy Curtis, just call me Candy though, everyone does."

"Well you sure are looking mighty nice tonight Miss Candy." His eyes were sparkling, he obviously he was a happy-go-lucky kind of guy, like my twin.

I looked back toward Dallas, seeing him in a full make-out session with the girl, before deciding that I was just going to enjoy myself as if I didn't like Dally and he wasn't here.

"Hey Buck! Can you get me a shot of whiskey or something?" I shouted over the the loud country music playing. He strolled up to me with a shot and a beer to use as a chaser. I raised my eyebrow before swallowing the whiskey and ignoring the beer.

Michael was watching me with an amused and proud look on his face, "I ain't never seen a girl take a drink like that, I knew I would like you" He commented, smiling with all of his perfectly white teeth showing."

He reached over and took the abandoned beer that Buck had left for me and waved Buck off when he shouted toward us. I couldn't tell what he was saying so I looked at Michael questioningly. He grinned again before saying, " I ain't supposed to drink too much before I ride. It's horrible to ride with a hangover."

"So you ride for Buck then?" I asked, interested.

He nodded, " I'm one of his best," He flashed me a grin and a wink.

I grinned, so that was why he was here, because I am pretty sure there was no way Dallas would have a cowboy around unless they rode with Buck.

"How do you know Winston?" He asked, looking slightly confused.

I smiled at him, " He is just a friend of the family, my brothers aren't here though, thank God."

He laughed, and man was it nice to the ears, it made me feel tingly all over. I let out a small laugh as well.

I hummed along to the music and tapped my foot once we had sank into a comfortable silence. There was a small smile dancing around my lips.

"Ah ha!" I jumped halfway out of my chair and sent Michael a mild glare, he just gave me a toothy grin and said, " Now I know where I recognize your name from! You ride in the rodeo, right?"

I grinned at him, "Sometimes, I actually work at the stalls when there's going to be a show, I just ride if they don't have enough girls riding."

"Tuff enough," he said. "I actually keep my horse down at the stalls on the outskirts of town, but maybe I can get him moved over to yours so I can see ya more."

This guy was really just to sweet, more sweet than Dallas had ever been, and he was really cute too. If Dallas was making out with that girl then that meant we weren't dating, which meant I was single, so I really didn't have an excuse to not flirt with this cowboy. "Maybe you should move him over," I said with a flirty smirk.

He smirked slightly, obviously happy that he had gotten me to flirt back. I looked back at the clock. It was only about ten, meaning I had a while before I had to leave.

"So... Do you have a boyfriend?" He asked.

"Nope."

"Do you want to dance?"

"Why not?"

So I followed him onto the floor as a slower song came on. He had a goofy looking grin on his face as he pulled me close to him. I wrapped my arms around his neck and his rested between my middle and lower back. We swayed to the music. We danced most of the night, laughing and just having a good time. I found out that he had been the guy who had bought Mickey Mouse, a horse that me and Soda had been in love with, and I told him about the gang, he had smiled slightly when I said he was kind of like my twin.

Eventually my feet were worn out, and we were back at the bar. I had kicked off my boots and he had set his hat on the bar counter.

"Well I got to go home," I said regretfully.

He looked sort of sad and asked, " Can I see you again? Would you watch me race tomorrow morning? Please? I might try harder if you are there." He looked hopeful, there was no way I was going to say no.

"Well, as long as it's in the morning, because I promised my Pony, Johnnycakes, and Dallas I would go to the Double with them tomorrow."

He smiled from ear to ear, happy that I was going. I just shook my head smiling. "I got to go find Dallas, he is supposed to take me home."

"I don't think he remembered, I saw him headed upstairs with a girl earlier." Said Michael.

I was surprised when I didn't feel sick to my stomach at the thought. Maybe I hadn't liked Dallas as much as I thought. I tried thinking of him holding my hand earlier, no butterflies.

"Well guess I'll just find a ride," I said with a grin.

He nodded, " I would take you but I drank too much to feel right about doing it, even if I'm not drunk."

I smiled, showing that it was alright, it's not like I had told him I could hot-wire a car faster than anyone I knew.

I walked over to a nice black car that I knew belonged to Tim Shepard, knowing that he wouldn't really care as long as I didn't crash it or scratch it, he liked me all right because I hung around with Dallas and was friends with his little brother, Curly, Who was currently in the reformatory.

I wired it and drove off home. I walked into my house right as the clock chimed midnight. Darry raised an eyebrow from his place in Dad's old chair, "Cutting it a little close don't you think?"

I shrugged. He shook his head and went off down the hall, presumably to go to bed. I did the same, seeing as how tired I was, and accounting to the fact that I was going to the rodeo tomorrow. I checked Pony and Soda's room on the way to mine, shocked when I didn't see Ponyboy. I rushed down to my room and let out a sigh of relief when I saw him curled up on my bed. I quietly changed as to not wake him, now that would be awkward. I slipped into the bed next to him, feeling him roll over and throw his arm over me. I gently put mine around him with a small smile, and fell into a dreamless slumber.

**So what do you guys think of Michael? He was kind of a spur of the moment character. But I couldn't figure a different way to make her realize that she didn't like Dallas as much as she thought. I haven't decided if they are going to be together or if they are going to just be really good friends. How about you tell me in a review? I would really appreciate it! **

**Love Y'all **

**Stay Gold 3**


End file.
